影片对白

Jimmy: I'm sorry, baby, but when Jimmy's involved, the song got to have some soul! Damn! Lord have mercy! Got to have soul!

Curtis: Soul, gospel, R&B, jazz, blues, everything else the man has grabbed from us. Listen, there's got to be a better way for us to get our music to a broader audience, only this time with our artists and our money.

Jimmy: Marty, this man is handing me a line of crap.

Marty: Yeah, I know, baby. 

C. C. : Got me a Cadillac Cadillac, Cadillac
Got me a Cadillac car
Got me a Cadillac Cadillac, Cadillac
Look at me, mister, I'm a star

Marty: I know what you cats are trying to do, and you can forget it. James Early ain't no street-corner punk looking for his first date. He's an established artist with a recording contract.

Curtis: On a shitty local label that can't get him to the pop charts.

Marty: We can't do nothing about that.

Curtis: All I'm asking is one record, man. One song with a simple hook. "Look at me in my pretty car, makes me feel like a movie star." You know where all the hits happen these days? In cars, man. Songs that make you feel good while you're driving your automobile.

Marty: Yeah? Jimmy's fans like taking the bus. Let's hit it, Jimmy.

Jimmy: Hey, what do you think about using that bridge there, baby?
Movin' out
Movin' up
Movin' on

Curtis: Sounds a little tick-tock, boys. Let's stay in the pocket.

Man: Going to work! Shut it down! Recording, Cadillac Car. Take nine.

Jimmy: I got me a Cadillac
Cadillac, Cadillac
I got me a Cadillac car
Got me a Cadillac
Cadillac, Cadillac
Look at me, mister, I'm a star
I'm on the move
I'm gettin' on
I'm breakin' out
And it won't take long
Behind the wheel
Got a song
Pedal's down
And I'm gone

Curtis: We've got that coming up in the next hour, but for now, let me get a hold of your ear. It's a different sound for the Thunder Man. And I think you're gonna enjoy it.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. Hand me a line of crap
Crap 指"无意义的话，大话，废话"，这里hand me a line of crap 指的是 tell a lie。

2. Street-corner punk looking for his first date

This is a sort of euphemism for being an amateur, it's not a common one, but used in context it means that Marty sees himself as a man with experience because he's an "established artist with a record contract".

3. established artist: 有名望的艺术家

4. hook

Hook 这里指的是一首歌中最容易被人们记住、最能打动人心的地方。

5. All the hits

Hits这里指"流行音乐排行榜中位居榜首的歌曲"。

6. Stay in the pocket

这个片语可能起源于美式足球，本意是"not scramble around looking for a pass(传球), stay in the pocket is safer"。这个片语在这里的意思是"Let's stay the safer route when making this song."

7. Let me get a hold of your ear
意思是"Let me get you to pay attention to what I'm about to say because I think it's important for you to listen to me. "

Dreamgirls 是一部以上世纪六、七十年代为背景的影片，并且影片的主要内容是黑人音乐的发展，因此在语言上有相当多那个时代的烙印，并混杂了非常多的黑人英语，其中很多已不再使用、或并非标准英语的用法。我们介绍这部影片，希望大家能对那个时代的英语、黑人英语有所了解，对黑人音乐的发展有所了解。

文化面面观

Cadillac 凯迪拉克--豪华的历史

一直以来，凯迪拉克都被视为美国顶级豪华车的标志，是各个历史时代美国成功人士的成功标志，是各国政要、显贵和名人的首选座驾。在韦伯斯特大词典中，凯迪拉克被定义为"同类中最为出色、最具声望事物"的同义词；被一向以追求极致尊贵著称的伦敦皇家汽车俱乐部冠以"世界标准"的美誉。

Cadillac is a brand of luxury vehicles, part of General Motors, produced and mostly sold in the United States and Canada. In the United States, the name previously was a synonym for "high quality", used in such phrases as "the Cadillac of watches," referring to a Rolex or an Omega. In English usage outside North America, other brands are used in such phrases - usually Rolls-Royce.

Cadillac's current slogan is "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit," in reference to the inalienable rights mentioned in the United States Declaration of Independence. GM leads all other automakers in Strategic Vision's Total Quality Index (TQI).

History

Founding

Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company when Henry Ford departed along with several of his key partners and the company was dissolved. With the intent of liquidating the firm's assets, Ford's financial backers, William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland to appraise the plant and equipment prior to selling them. Instead, Leland persuaded them to continue the automobile business using Leland's proven 1-cylinder engine. Henry Ford's departure required a new name, and on August 22, 1902, the company reformed as the Cadillac Automobile Company.

The Cadillac automobile was named after the 17th century French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, founder of Detroit, Michigan, in 1701.

Contributions to the Automotive Industry

1960 Cadillac

Cadillac helped to define advanced engineering, luxury and style early in Automotive History and would come to be known as one of the world's finest made vehicles. Precision manufacturing of truly interchangeable parts was an award-winning industry first in 1908. Cadillac was the first manufacturer to release cars with a fully enclosed cab as factory equipment in 1910. Standard electric engine starting and lighting was another award winner for 1912. Cadillac introduced the first production V8 engine for the 1914 model year. Cadillac was the first manufacturer to utilize the skills of a designer to produce a car's body instead of an engineer (1927). This gave the public a car that looked as good as it performed. Cadillac's engineers were first to design a manual transmission with synchronizers for increased drivability (1929) and were instrumental in the early development of the automatic transmission, beginning in 1932. Cadillac offered a production V-16 engine from 1930 through 1940 and introduced the production independent wishbone front suspension in 1934. The marque introduced tailfins for 1948. From the late 1960s onward, Cadillac offered a fiber-optic indication system which alerted the driver of a failed light bulb.

考考你

将下面的句子译成英语。

1. I know what you cats are trying to do, and you can forget it. James Early ain't no street-corner punk looking for his first date. He's an established artist with a recording contract.

2. All I'm asking is one record, man. One song with a simple hook. "Look at me in my pretty car, makes me feel like a movie star." You know where all the hits happen these days? In cars, man. Songs that make you feel good while you're driving your automobile.

Dreamgirls《追梦女郎》（精讲之二）考考你 参考答案

1. 因为没有新的订单，他们被解雇了。
They were laid off because of the lack of new orders.

2. 我认为这个计划行不通。
I don't think this plan will work out.

3. 比尔为他导师的魅力折服有三年的时间，但渐渐地他的梦想破灭、离开了大学。
Bill sat at his mentor's feet for nearly three years, but he gradually became disillusioned and left the university.